A new, somewhat pointless story :D

It had always been like this. Always. He would stand in the very front in absolutely everything and I, worthless me, would stand in his shadow. He would have the solo. I would sing with the choir. He would be the lead in musicals. I would be the supporting cast. He would be the hero of the baseball team. I would never get the game ball. It didn't matter what we did, really. It always turned out the same way.

Some people seemed to think this didn't bother me and that I took no offense to it. True, I stood quietly in the back, waiting for it to be my turn, but that didn't mean I didn't care. It hurt every single time he was picked and I was not. No one wants to live in the shadow of anyone else; we all want to be treated equally and have someone to love us. No one wants to feel completely alone. And I was invisible to the whole entire world.

Forever the shy little brother of Alfred F. Jones.

I don't really know what it was that made me start to feel this way. In the beginning, it had just seemed right, like the parts were always made for him. But that had been when we were little. Maybe I had just started to see the inequality of the world and, of course, that our parents had been playing favorites since the day Alfred had been born. We were from a sort of "broken" family and had different fathers, which was why our names were different, mine being Williams instead of Jones. The whole situation was confusing, but basically, I was the bastard child who was the result of our mom cheating on his dad. Consequently, Alfred's father had divorced Mom and she was now a single parent, taking care of the two of us, trying to hold onto herself.

Money was a little tight, but we could manage, she always told me when I asked. Mostly, she just told me to leave her alone. She was always tied up with work , too busy doing whatever it was she did on her computer all day to even begin to listen when I told her I had a hockey game on Saturday that I wanted her to come to. When Alfred had a soccer game, she had to put everything on hold, but when I had hockey… I tried not to hold a grudge against her, knowing how busy she was and all. Perhaps it was just coincidence… Maybe anytime I asked, she had things piled up.

Yeah… that's what I told myself every time. Since the second grade.

So I ended up with a lot of spare time, what with being invisible and all. Mostly I just sat in my room and did homework, sometimes things that weren't due until weeks later, to occupy my horrendous lack of social life. Occasionally I would get on the computer I had just gotten for Christmas from my father and get on YouTube. Other than that, I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling for hours on end, thinking up beautiful stories to fill my head with, pretending sometimes I was somewhere else. Somewhere where people liked you, even if you were anti-social and shy. A place where I had friends.

Alfred went out with his buddies almost every night. He went and had fun, doing what normal seventeen-year-olds did, which may or may not have included drugs and alcohol. It wasn't like he would tell me if it did. Out was exactly where he was now, and I, also, was in my standard position, hiding underneath the covers and hugging my stuffed polar bear that I'd had since forever, though I could never remember what I originally had named him. I was imagining something new, a sort of Alice in Wonderland type place, only Canadian instead of English, wishing desperately that I could figure a way to write out exactly what went through my head.

I let out a slightly frustrated sigh and shoved the covers off, going over to the computer to listen to music to calm my thoughts and try to organize them. Drumming my fingers on my desk, I waited patiently for the internet to boot up, wondering suddenly what Alfred was doing right now with his friends. Where were they? What were they doing? Was it legal? All these questions I had always wanted to ask him, but I was too afraid. I was even terrified of my own brother. It was pathetic. It finally opened, to my relief, and I started to head to YouTube, to search for something calming to listen to. Of course, instead of typing the site in right, my hand slipped and I accidentally clicked on something I was sure Alfred had typed in when I was doing the dishes or something. He always got on my computer…

And now, I had to wait for it to load. When it did, I went instantly to the address bar to retype, trying to avoid looking at whatever it was Al had looked up. I was afraid it was porn, like last time. But just as I started typing (very carefully) a message popped up, scaring the maple out of me, announcing that EnglishTeaWizard was now online and had sent something. Curiosity getting the better of me, I opened it, praying that it wasn't something… Alfred-like. Instead it was just a message.

Good day, Alfred.

Good day? Somewhat hesitant, I typed back. Hello.

How was your day? It rained here, of course.

A small feeling of guilt leapt inside me as I continued the conversation, the weirdness of the situation… exciting. It snowed today, actually! I'm so happy… I love snow! I felt a smile break across my face as I remembered the miracle snowfall that we had gotten.

Really? I thought you hated the cold. Unless I'm remembering wrong…

Just as I was about to answer to try and fix my mistake, another bubble popped up, this one colorful and lined with bright red. Shocked, I clicked on that one, wondering just how many people Alfred had been online chatting with on my computer. The name 5MetersofAwesomesauce came up, and with it, the most massive collection of smiley faces I had ever seen instead of actual words. I had no idea what to do… Pushing my glasses up, I decided to try and type to see if he or she would answer.

Um… hello?

Guess what, Al? You'll never guess who the awesome me totally fucked last night!

My face reddening, not really wanting to know who he… did it with last night, I tried to go back to the other chat, only to find that EnglishTeaWizard had already left, saying that he had to do some chores. Fidgeting uncomfortably, I went back to the other guy and typed the only thing I could think to say. Who?

The absolutely fiiiine Roderick, that's who! High five! So, you get in Arthur's pants yet?

Arthur? Who was Arthur? And, on top of that, why was he asking if my brother had been in another boy's pants? Alfred wasn't gay… Or at least I hadn't THOUGHT so… Biting my lip, I said Not yet…

Dude, what are you waiting for?

Uhh… I decided to take the easy way out of the whole situation. Hey, sorry, I have to leave. Mom wants me to do the dishes now.

Whatevs. The awesome me has better things to do anyway!

I waited for the message that 5metersofAwesomesauce was offline before I hurriedly shut off the computer altogether and started pacing around my room, flustered. What had that been about? Why had Alfred been talking to these people? Who were they, more importantly? Trying to shake off the whole ordeal, I went out to the kitchen to grab something to eat, only to find someone with short blond hair and a bomber jacket already there, raiding the fridge. My heart flew up into my throat; I considered stepping back out the way I had come, but he spun before I could go, turning to face me with his mouth full of pie and arms full of other miscellaneous food items.

"Mrmph!" he shouted, pie crumbs flying out of his mouth and smacking me in the face.

I gave a nervous laugh and said, my voice a whisper, "I'll just go now so you can have the kitchen to yourself…" Then I turned to leave, only to be stopped by a hand on my shoulder. Anxious, I turned around to find Alfred making the most ridiculous face ever as he swallowed his mouthful of goop. I stifled a shriek of surprise, gasping instead.

"Dude! I haven't seen you for, like, a month! You can stay in the kitchen with me if you wanna! That'd be totally sweet!" he said, surprising me.

Shocked about being noticed but not wanting to spend time with him and make things awkward, I made up a lame excuse and declined, rushing back to my room as fast I could. Suddenly exhausted, I collapsed onto my bed, pulled Kamijiki up to my chest, and fell asleep quickly, the light of the day gone in an instant.

That night I dreamed of a prince… one with short, gray hair and luminous red eyes, though these stunning features were completely dulled by the cocky smile he had on his face, and the first words out of his mouth.

"All hail the awesome me!"

Don't like it, don't care, don't read. However, if you do, please review ;)